The Team

Johnathan Messum is the founder pioneer behind Messums Wiltshire, an inspirational and innovative Art Centre that offers a unique environment for both artists and collectors that celebrates the creative endeavour. He has established relationships with international, national and local artists and collectors who will support the gallery’s activities.

Johnathan’s longer term vision is that Messums Wiltshire will become a cultural institution in the South West of England showcasing modern and contemporary art, design and performance, whilst also providing educational lectures and workshops as part of its exhibitions and events programme throughout the year.

Johnathan initially joined Messum’s London as a Director in 1999, after studying History of Art at Edinburgh University and working for Christie’s in London. He has worked for the family business for most of his career.

At Messum’s London, Johnathan has taken the company into new ventures, starting new collections and building relationships with overseas galleries and museums on behalf of Messum’s artists and artist estates. He has been responsible for negotiating the handling of significant artworks on behalf of vendors of British art and is still actively engaged in the evolution of Messum’s London.

In addition, Johnathan has a much broader interest in continuing to enable modern and contemporary art to flourish in Britain. Johnathan is also a board member of Browns Hotel London Art Weekend.

Curator

Catherine Milner

Catherine Milner has worked in the international art world for more than twenty years. Formerly Arts Correspondent of the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, she now regularly contributes articles about art to a number of publications including the Financial Times, the Economist and Apollo Magazine.

Having studied Fine Art at Edinburgh University her first job was working for the Barbican Art Gallery. She has since specialised in contemporary British art and was one of the first to write about the Young British Artist group in the early 1990s. Since then she has focused on contemporary Middle Eastern art and traveled extensively throughout the region. She has also recently started taking small groups of collectors to artists studios, exhibitions, art biennales and art fairs around the world.

Alastair Margadale

Alastair MargadaIe has been heavily involved in running the Fonthill Estate over the last 30 years and has always been fascinated by Place Farm and the history behind the farmhouse, gatehouses and the barn that make it one of the finest surviving groups of monastic grange buildings in the country.

Alastair’s family have owned the Fonthill Estate since the early nineteenth century, which includes Place Farm and the Great Barn. The Fonthill Estate is centered on Fonthill Bishop and consists of farmland, woods and gardens with residential property available to rent and commercial business units to let. The estate is extensive and provides a stunning backdrop with over “nine thousands acres of outstanding beauty in the heart of Wiltshire.”

In recent years the barn has been extensively restored to its former glory, under the careful stewardship of Alastair Morrison, the 3rd Lord Margadale and estate manager Simon Fowler. The Barn has floor space over one third of an acre, it is reputed to be the largest though not the longest barn of its type in England.

Alastair and Johnathan Messum have worked together to bring the building back to life and open it to the public as an arts centre and cultural institution for the South West of England. From the Great Barn at Place Farm being built in the 15th century to surviving the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the arrival of Messums Wiltshire is a thrilling moment in the history of the building.

Alastair has a keen interest in the arts and has collected art since his early 20’s, so the involvement of a major London gallery in the Fonthill estate is especially exciting. He has always been greatly involved in all aspects of rural life which are of particular interest.

Non-Executive Director

Nick Hough

Most recently Nick was Global Managing Director of Christie’s looking after all the auction house’s subsidiary companies worldwide. He joined Christie’s in October 2013 from Publicis Groupe where he was Worldwide Account Director on UBS working on their global campaigns and their sponsorship of Art Basel and the Guggenheim UBS MAP Project.

Prior to this Nick was Chief Operating Officer of Frieze during a period of rapid growth, including taking the contemporary art fair to New York and launching Frieze Masters in London.

Earlier in his career Nick held a number of senior positions in brand consultancy and advertising. As well as leading the team that created O2, he has also advised some of the biggest global brand-owning companies including: P&G, Coca Cola, Unilever, SAB Miller, Nestlé, Barclays, HSBC and the BBC on their communications.

Nick obtained a First in Environmental Biology before going on to read towards a D. Phil in Animal Behaviour at Balliol College, Oxford and then co-authoring a self help book on sleep – The Sleep Solution.

He also works pro bono with a number of other organisations in the arts including Photo London, The Photographer’s Gallery and The Russell Maliphant Company.

Non-Executive Director

Katushka Giltsoff

Katushka spent an early career in the City of London before becoming one of the first Partners at Whitehead Mann where she led multiple practices and was a key figure in the growth of the firm. Katushka has built a reputation as a top search professional handling C-Suite and Non-Executive appointments across the financial services arena and for a range of businesses in transition.

Katushka advises clients on the composition of their Boards, to ensure that they have the appropriate mix of skills, and experience to drive the business forward, and future proof their success. In total, Katushka has been a top search professional for two decades operating across a range of sectors, public and private businesses, UK and International and has many years of successfully working with clients in the Board room.

Katushka has been a Steering Committee member of Thirty Percent Club since its founding. As she was the only search professional on the Committee, Katushka has worked tirelessly to develop the Voluntary Search Code to encourage the industry to adapt its approach at Board and ExCo level. Katushka continues to be a working practice member now focusing on the pipeline and the public sector diversity issues.

Many of her clients are long standing, as she is seen as a trusted advisor, someone who is considered and creative and will encourage clients to challenge their assumptions. She is constantly looking for emerging trends and implications that will impact her clients’ business.

After many years operating in a truly international environment Katushka has an excellent broader understanding of many parts of the world. In addition, Katushka is a board member at DegreeArt London, the UK leader in contemporary, affordable art online created by the finest emerging artists and St Benet’s Hall, Oxford.

Non-Executive Director

Harry Macauslan

Harry spent all of his working life in the creative industries, predominantly working for multi-national advertising agencies. Since he retired he has been involved in two start-up businesses (a bank and a health and wellness enterprise). He is also involved in a broad range of other businesses as a non-Executive Director, from sectors as diverse as financial services and pizza delivery.

In addition, Harry also works for a number of charities involved in the arts, ballet and contemporary dance. He has been an advisor to Frieze magazine and art fairs and has also been a judge for Arts & Business. He has been a Trustee and a Governor of Sadler’s Wells for over 20 years and is the Chairman of the Russell Maliphant Company (Russell is one of the world’s leading contemporary dance choreographers), a position that he has held for the past nine years.

Harry is particularly interested in the cross-fertilisation of traditional art forms and the role of education in the arts (he is a Trustee of an art school in London). He likes to paint, but not well enough to actually be called a painter.

Non-Executive Director

Charlie Noel-Buxton

Charlie has a great love of the aesthetic and has done from an early age. Having left school where the art department was certainly a favourite haunt, Charlie lived in Hamburg for a year working for an art supplier. During this time, he was then offered a job in the City of London so returned home and began a career lasting 5 years in insurance and banking.

As a child, his mother had renovated property and from an early age, Charlie took a very keen interest. Whilst working hard in the city, he bought, renovated and sold property which allowed him to gain further experience and indulge in his creative side. This finally led to him totally changing career to focus on property 15 years ago. Throughout this time Charlie learnt that other than the position and the bones of the property itself, the most important ingredient in creating a lovely home is the art.

Non-Executive Director

Helen Birchenough

Helen has been involved in the cultural sector in Wiltshire for almost twenty years, first as a trustee and Chair at Salisbury Playhouse and then at the Salisbury International Arts Festival. She is now a trustee of the newly formed Wiltshire Creative, set to deliver a multi-arts programme to audiences across Wiltshire and beyond.

Driven by the power of the arts and education to change lives, Helen is a strong believer in the importance of further education and vocational training. She has been Chair of Wiltshire College for five years, during a time of transformational change.

Helen also chairs the education panel at Wiltshire Community Foundation. Of the £1m that the foundation gives in grants each year, a third goes to young people to help them to access educational equipment or services and through the provision of grants to students who would not otherwise be able to go to university.

Helen’s working life started in advertising and brand development and she has always enjoyed working with creative people and the creative process. This combines happily at Messums with her love and knowledge of Wiltshire.

Gallery Director

Melissa Stourton

Melissa has had a life-long love affair with art and art history. This began at home informally with a collector for a father, and the bond was sealed after spending a year on the John Hall History of Art Course. Aside from raising a family and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Melissa (or Mouse as she is usually known!) has worked in various roles in Christie’s and Sotheby’s and maintains a keen interest in Contemporary Art.

Researcher

Laura Simpkins

Laura Grace Simpkins recently graduated from the University of Oxford in 2017 having studied History of Art at St Peter’s College. After being awarded a ‘Domus Exhibitioner’ scholarship for first year exam performance, Laura won an £800 travel grant to work throughout the summer of 2015 in an art gallery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Laura has had various internships and work experiences in art institutions including Christie’s Auction House in London. During her second year of university, she accepted the offer of photography editor for Oxford’s largest student newspaper, ‘The Cherwell’. Laura hopes to continue her academic career by returning to university for a Master’s degree in Film Studies. She is also a qualified yoga teacher and professional life model and would love to bring these two pastimes to her work at Messums Wiltshire!

Accounts & Administration

Molly Grant

Molly Grant spent her gap year in Australia where she discovered her love of art working as a consultant in a contemporary art gallery in Sydney selling new works by young aspiring artists.

On her return to England Molly started at Messums Wiltshire as our Barista but within a couple of months had worked her way up to the position of Accounts Manager.

Molly is studying for a BA Hons degree in Business Management on her (rare) days off and is the font of all knowledge with the day to day running of Messums Wiltshire.

Head chef

Sunny Sin

Having grown up and learnt to cook in Bangkok, Sunny Sin moved to London in her teens. After graduating from university in BSc Nutritional and health she tried numerous career paths but decided to follow her real passion for cooking.

She spent a gap year travelling and learning different cuisines in South America, New Zealand, Australia and South East Asia. On her return to England she moved to the country and decided to settle in Wiltshire.

Sunny aims is to introduce new cuisines and flavours Wiltshire and the surrounding areas.

Communications Manager

Stephanie Rennie

Following her graduation in Design, Stephanie spent fifteen years in the fashion industry managing and running client accounts. Her other roles included sourcing fabrics and developing new concepts from the far east and Europe whilst leading a team of young designers and product developers.

Importantly, working for top British brands taught Stephanie the value of classic design and great craftsmanship.

After a break to raise a family, a career change led Stephanie to join the Messums Wiltshire team where she runs the social media and exhibition planning. Beware of the quiet ones, when the music turns up there is one set of feet first on the dance floor!

Front of House

Çiğdem Baker

After studying textiles at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Çiğdem gained a creative eye through setting up an online retail company, selling beautifully crafted objects by internationally celebrated designers for the home.

Born in Istanbul, her first experience of art was visiting the mansions on the Bosphorus with their Ottoman treasures, marquetry and Iznik tiles, since then she has always had a passion for fine art, whatever the material. She collects 20th century design with a particular focus on ceramics and glassware and travels around the world to find the most exquisite and finely crafted works in many mediums.

As Front of House here at Messums Wiltshire, Çiğdem brings her creative expertise to provide an excellent customer service to our clients and visitors.